20 Shell Games
by redcloudedleopard
Summary: Ozai accuses Tony Stark, or Iron Man, of delaying the release of his company's latest upgrade. Whereas Azula & Johnny are up against the media who are inquisitive about their relationship.
1. Before the Attack

While Ben & Ozai lifted up the cylindrical object, Reed was overseeing the process of watching it being inserted into an opening on the Baxter Building's front wall. Sue on the other hand supported everyone with a sturdy platform she made. The gigantic contraption begged Ben's question, "What's this for again?"

"Provided you don't break it, this will be part of the building's new security system. Given all the attacks lately, I thought I'd give us an upgrade," Reed casually explained.

Ben's tone remained flat, "Oh, c'mon, we don't get attacked _that_ much." Ozai lifted one brow in response, looking to Sue who interjected, "Ben, the building has been shot into space, pulled underground, invaded by Doombots, attacked by a giant monster, turned into a bomb & infested with bugs from another dimension."

"Yeah, but I think most of that was Johnny's fault. Speaking of the matchstick – ain't he supposed to be helpin'?"

"Well," she sighed, "you know him."

"Actually, Susan, my daughter has never been more different after the day out with Jonathan," came Ozai's little interruption that had a striking civility.

"Really? Errr…that's a good thing, right?" she blinked in disbelief. He had excited her gratitude, not to mention astonishment.

"It's a safe thing to say," he replied, a smile overspreading his face.

Ben cut in, "Where'd the two lovebirds go anyway?"

A moment elapsed & the sun was temporarily blocked out; a very loud-coloured Fantasticar was hovering before them all. The main cockpit flew open, & there was Johnny preparing for some 'lovely' presentation.

Reed let his jaw drop, "What - my - my Fantasticar! WHAT HAPPENED?"

Johnny hardly suppressed a grin, "Pretty sweet, huh? I had H.E.R.B.I.E. make a few 'mods' to the Fantasticar! Wait, it gets better!" A new, custom-made lever he pulled, to set the aircraft bouncing up & down with some additional hydraulics installed.

"Do you like it, Dr. Richards? Johnny said you'd like it!" said H.E.R.B.I.E., sanguine hope in his voice.

Ben put on the sarcastic look, mumbling, "Moron. Tell me he hasn't toyed with Dr. O's jet as well…" Obliged to submit to the new appearance of the vehicle for now, Reed shifted the topic, "Johnny, would you know where Azula is by chance?"

"Oh, Zed? She told me she's walking some fellow citizen's dogs for the morning. Or something." Just saying that seemed to light up Johnny's mug.

"Uhuh. You sure you haven't kidnapped her for a joyride?" queried Ben, his face unchanged.

"NO!" he snapped, roused by that remark, "Anyway, you guys know you love it!" He kept playing with those hydraulics whilst at least half of the others expressed a silent wish of choking him.

* * *

Walking down 42nd St. was Azula, with a pair of large dogs alongside her. Jet was the name of the Doberman Pinscher on her right & Colton the Rottweiler on her left. Few believed someone like her capable of taking two fearsome mutts for a morning stroll while their owner, Mr. Kohn was off to tend to some urgent matter at work.

"What can I tell him while _unpretending_ at the same time? Or better yet, HOW can I tell him?" she asked Colton (for mere fun, obviously), stroking the short hairs on his muzzle.

_Ufff_, the Rottweiler responded.

"I mean, he even paid for the dinner that night! I have this jacket he gave me," she showed them the apparel fitted on her comfortably, "& I counted about three kisses in these two days. Of course, only one on the lips…"

_Uffff, _came the Doberman's turn.

Her sigh came out loud, "Basically, no one's treated me like this before," she concluded, & then the smile curved halfway up her face, "It feels weird."

She wasn't yet aware of Colton's infamous behaviour: his foul misconduct that squirrels suffered by. Approaching some shrubbery up ahead, the Rottweiler was incapable of containing the excitement when a grey rodent popped out to survey the place. The critter turned its head clockwise to see a huge streak of black & mahogany charging forward.

"Bad boy, Colton! Get back here!" Azula yelled. The silly dog nearly sprained her wrist. That was only one of many other dangers of having two bulldozers on a leash each.

"Let's get him, Jet…" She gained speed as she progressed to nab Colton. But a tingling in the back of her neck warned her of some other event occurring in that same space of time.

"Hey, look! It's _Blue Dragon_!" someone cried out from a few metres away. However, Azula found more cause for satisfaction in grabbing Colton - by cornering him by a narrow gate. "Down, Colt! Atta boy."

"_Blue Dragon!" _At least eight reporters towered above her as she secured the dog's leash once more. She returned their avid gazes with a look more worried than prepared. She'd formerly seen these same folks hunting for juicy news around the metropolis. Two women & a man grasped their mics & expressed their hunger for an interesting article.

"We were so excited to have an interview!"

"This will be in magazines all over the city!"

"Maybe it'll go _global_!"

Azula stood up to stop them, "Whoa hey! I'm in the middle of something here." She tied both mutts to a thick post.

The same three persons held up mics to her, as if they hadn't heard anything besides their own voices.

"One quick question! Is it true that you're dating the Human Torch?"

"What do you think of him as a person?"

"Is he the ideal date for somebody like you?"

A feeling crept upon her that she'd expose dreadfully what was hidden. **People planning their time doing 'evil' stuff like this got a reputation as troublemakers.** Just then, as if right on queue, her earpiece beeped. "Sorry, gotta make haste!" she found a direction to run. That threw a real gloom over the circle of reporters, but her reputation hadn't been sullied much.


	2. Plans

"Sorry about the punctuality," said a voice. They all turned round to see Azula emerging from downstairs, her feet planted on the floor elevator platform.

Johnny called out, "Hey, Zed!" She just simpered back at him, but with unquestionably expressive eyes.

"Hey, Blue Blaze. Them dogs gave you hard time?" asked Ben.

"You bet they did," she replied. It felt wonderful to come to the main lab for a breather, following all that morning activity.

"Azula, it's a pity you had to miss that robot attack that occurred two minutes ago," laughed Sue, with a humorous edge to her voice.

The group was now complete; no one really wished to be part of the discussion that primarily involved Reed & Ozai. The scientists analyzed a pair of shoulder guards belonging to Leopard X. They were apparently damaged by a powerful laser beam of the enemy robot during the fight. On the way up, Azula had overheard them cracking their heads,

"_Reed, what was -," Sue was saying._

_He answered, "_Electromagnetic pulse_…tuned specifically to the energy signature of the armours. It should've shut them down but Stark's armour is impressive."_

Ben was fingering his square jaw, then pointed downward at Ozai's armour, "Ya still have the ones on yer knees, doc."

"Still, the shoulders are more important," he put down the two metal pieces that looked dented & partially fried. Those shoulder & knee guards aided Leopard X in one crucial aspect of combat: spreading out his weight. The guards would extend their length in the desired direction to balance out the weight of the suit's upper & lower body, depending on the situation.

"I'm afraid we'll have to fix them later, Ozai," Reed mentioned, "We need to investigate what our _billionaire friend_ may be up to."

"Could this have been an intended attack on a group of specific targets decided by Stark himself?" questioned Ozai.

"Hmmm…it _is_ possible. L.Y. Weapons may well be the new big rival to Stark's multinational corporation. Any upgrade to your products would probably drive him to try get the upper hand in…well…"

"The corporate arena? It's highly probable." At least the pressure put on Ozai wasn't all that bad at present, for he had officially left the company in the hands of a trusted friend, Feng, the week before. Feng had moved to this part of the world too, to manage everything with his team. What the ex-CEO of L.Y. Weapons now did was to simply refine & regularly assess the performance of the robots released. His workload may have lightened up greatly, but still, **he never lacked in zeal to keep his fervour in serving** the company's needs. It was as if his 'gift' & 'call' of upgrading a weapon suit were irrevocable.

"I may not be the head of L.Y. Weapons anymore, but this is getting me concerned. These guards are the latest addition to the company's assembly line. I was testing them back there, & look what happens? Iron Man & company shish-kebab them in a matter of seconds."

"So, errr…Tony Stark: not one of our biggest fans, I'm thinking," Ben gave a point.

Reed stood up straight, "There's only one way to find out. We've got a meeting to go to."

Leopard X quickly added,_ "& I'll be needing a very important word with him."_


	3. Corporate Friction

Ozai & Johnny burnt a round hole in the glass, granting the six heroes entry into the Stark Enterprises meeting room. The corporation's charismatic leader was already there to coolly greet them, "Please, come right in. Though you know this is a very hi-tech building. _We have things called doors_." Upon seeing Leopard X in Quad Mode, he added not quite so cordially, "I may even consider getting a _doggie door_ too."

The six superheroes ignored his every word, yet he nonchalantly began, "So, welcome to Stark Enterprises. To what do I owe the honour?"

"You can start by explaining why you sent your Iron Men to attack us," muttered Reed, making sure not to smile. He focused on choking a hearty 'sorry' out of the billionaire.

Tony chuckled after a moment's pause, "You know, you had me going for a moment there. " More silence. "No really, why are you here?" he cocked his head to the right.

Sue placed her arms on her hips, "No, this is no joke, Mr. Stark. Are you -" Something she was exceedingly fond of captured her gaze.

"Hey, is that a diamond chandelier?" her eyes got real wide. "We're very serious, Stark," Reed brushed off what she said.

Tony maintained his cool, "I can see that. You know, if you ever need a relaxing vacation, let me know. I own several tropical islands…"

"Don't change the subject, Richie Rich," warned Ben using a finger, "You know you attacked us." "Tell it & be done with it, Mr. Stark," Azula filled in. She, Ben & Johnny leaned over the mini bar countertop to give the others their space. Then Johnny took his turn, "Yeah, 'fess up!" He added, "& uhhh…tell me more about those _islands_…"

"Ugh, shut it, Hotstuff," mumbled Azula with low volume.

Reed wanted to come across as very firm, "You're pursuit of money is a waste of your genius, Stark. Were you testing your armour against us? Trying to impress your stockholders?" He pointed to Leopard X by his side, "People like my friend here feel the pinch of what you're doing."

Switching to Dupe Mode, Ozai asked, "My important question to you is are you wiping out competition with other weapons manufacturers?" He towered more than a foot over Tony. The billionaire was puzzled, "Look, Dr. Richards & -"

"Dr. Ozai. Head of L.Y. Weapons," came Leopard X's formal introduction, "Your band of Iron Men just destroyed my company's latest armour component."

Tony picked up where he left off, "- I have no doubt you were attacked. But it's just not possible that the Iron Man armour attacked you. It's under the tightest security on the planet." "Prove it," Ben & Azula mouthed out in sync.

* * *

"Even a certified genius like Mr. Fantastic here would have a hard time getting in," Tony boasted after taking them through at least four security checkpoints on the way to the basement. He was impatient in venturing to prove them all wrong about the attack.

Johnny whispered his opinion to Azula, "Talk about three nerds in this same room…" He had a hand over her shoulder when they left the elevator. "Tell me about it," she replied, grinning & muffling a laugh. Her hand too had moved up to meet his. He was aware of this - but decided he made no mention of the business.

Finally, a huge door opened for them following the long security code Tony keyed in (he had taken fifteen seconds to type it). "Huh? This is impossible!" he gasped at the sight of the empty cells. No armoured suits within sight. "Well then, lucky you," growled Leopard X half jestingly.

A mechanical noise sounded from a far corner: a Doombot, ready to rumble. "You mentioned genius before. Well, a genius is exactly what you're dealing with. His name is Doctor Doom," Reed alerted Tony. Sue put a bubble around everyone to block off the Doombots flamethrower attack. Loud crunching & crumbling sounds were all about them. "The support beams are de-stabilizing! This building is gonna collapse!" Reed barked, eyes roving across the room.

Ben refused to think himself weak as to be in danger; he had his back against a slanted pillar in order to support it, "What is this building….about a hundred stories tall? I NEED A HAND HERE!"

"Got your back, Ben," Ozai joined him to offer assistance.

"Any ideas on how I can be _useful_ around here?" queried Azula, obviously aware that performing the same task would be pointless. Sue was supporting more pillars with her powers.

Reed gave a new instruction, "Azula, Johnny, trash that Doombot!"

"After you…," Johnny teased her, after his sister turned off the force field. Azula grunted in vexation before performing her flaming roundhouse kick. That stunned the Doombot enough for Johnny to fire his array of projectiles.

"Stark, you need to evacuate -," Reed said, but Tony wasn't anywhere to be seen, "- your employees," he decided to finish. "Well, he got half of it right," remarked Johnny. The Doombot was toast thanks to the fire benders.

Abruptly a metallic voice filled the place,_"Need a hand?"_

Johnny screamed, "Ghost armour!" He sighted a figure in bright red dash past. The group was all amazement when the armoured hero speedily secured the biggest pillar to buy them time.

"_One: I'm not a ghost. Two: If you wanna fight, may I suggest we save the day first?"_

"Iron Man, I presume…," Reed made his guess. Iron Man answered immediately in the affirmative. Sue was rendered rather angry at all the tete-a-tete, struggling with the many pillars she held up, & urged them to get the building into place as soon as possible.

* * *

"With the bracing we put in place, the building should hold till it can be properly repaired," Reed informed Iron Man when things whined down.

"_I agree. Mr. Stark thanks you for your assistance,"_ he replied, facing the party of six.

"You tell your boss not to worry, Iron Dude," said Johnny, "We'll get his toys back from big scary Doom."

"_You misunderstand me. Your assistance is no longer required. I'll take care of this 'Doom' character. He stole Tony Stark's property. He's Iron Man's problem."_

Johnny mocked, "Pfft, you're right! I'd like to see that!" "You don't just 'take care' of Doom," came Ben's clear point. "& you have to understand that he's a problem for us too," Leopard X crossed his arms.

Sue was impatient again, "Honestly, Iron Man. You should let us help. We've dealt with Doom before."

"What we're saying is it's risky for someone to approach Doom alone. Why not play safe?" said Azula.**If iron sharpened iron, couldn't one man sharpen another?**

After some silence, Reed said, "You're just as arrogant as Stark…It must be something he values in his employees…"

"_I'll be just fine on my own."_Probably to satisfy his pride, Iron Man flew off in a hurried manner. "We can't just let him go, Reed," Sue's tone changed.

Reed muttered, "Of course not. No doubt Doom is expecting both Iron Man & us. & while Stark's Iron man armour's quite capable, no one knows Doom better than we do."

The Fantasticar & Ounce, side by side, landed a minute later to take them to the heart of the matter: the Latverian Embassy.

"Wait, wait. So, we're going? I thought Iron Guy was handling this," Johnny complained. The rest had already begun their walk to the vehicles, whilst he remained standing there in surprise.

"Let's move!" Azula snapped for fun, grabbing him to follow.


	4. A Thief & Deadly

Every corner seemed to be dotted with flashing armour one moment, & nothing but air the next. Iron Man veered round after round but barely delivered successful blows to his six masterpieces. They were thrashing him down faster than he could fight back. Johnny appeared next to him suddenly, in front of the two hovering aircraft that were just switching to auto pilot mode.

"_I told you to leave this to me!"_

The heroes readied themselves to exit the cockpits. They ignored him plainly, given their half-expectation that he'd give in sooner or later. But as he had ever been in the habit of saying, Iron Man reinforced his decision, _"I don't need your help. This is Iron Man tech; I know it inside & out."_

A pulse was emitted from his chest to try bringing down the surrounding robots. There was some immediate relief, for each suit unexpectedly shut down & fell prey to the pull of gravity - they all hurtled down to the earth, some of them hitting buildings.

"You weren't kidding," muttered an appalled Sue. Azula & Ozai were with her on her floating platform.

However, Iron Man corrected her, _"No, it wasn't me."_

"Indeed it wasn't," thundered a familiar voice, coming from the high & mighty entrance of the embassy. "Iron Man…how charming…," said Doom, disturbed by no fear of beholding seven superheroes. The wind laced its way up his robes, & he threw them off to reveal gleaming red metal plated onto his body, "Your employer's armour is _adequate_."

"Dude, double armour! That's gotta be heavy; how do you even walk around in that?" said Johnny.

Azula voiced out, "He's getting me worried about his artistic taste." The red & green didn't blend well on Doom. It was as if he murdered superhero fashion...

"I have claimed this technology. Leave now, or be destroyed," Doom warned, not looking on with a friendly eye.

"Simple enough: the answer is no," growled Ozai.

The villain responded, "That's a terrible decision."

Iron Man formed a tough fist, then charged straight for Doom. Ozai leapt from the platform, giving an intimidating snarl while making his landing. The balcony may've been far from where he started but his spring-like cat jump solved the issue of distance. He'd already laid it down in his head; he was going to unleash a roll attack.

"You haven't claimed _my_ technology yet!" he roared. Doom was too quick, though; he swept Leopard X to the side - causing him to hit the nearest wall.

"You chose poorly," said Doom. He probably intended that to sound ambiguous, for Ozai & Iron Man to hear. "I see Stark saved his best-suited armour for you. But there is no technology I cannot master. What shall I do with you?" With a flick of the wrist, he got total control the Iron Man suit, "Destroy them all."

"_I can't control the armour! You have to get away! Run!"_

He smashed into the Fantasticar at violent speed. "'Run' ain't in my vocabulary!" Ben snapped.

"Try to get outta that," Sue encased Iron Man with the thickest force field she could shape. But it burst in an instant which sent Sue off course; Johnny had to catch her before she fell too low. In the meantime, Ben leapt from the vehicle to do Iron Man some justice. The two crashed to the solid concrete far down, & struggled with each other.

"_Ben, watch out! He's firing the uni-beam!" _Energy was building up within his armour's center.

"The _what_?" Ben asked with ill timing, for the huge blast caught him off guard. Thanks to his rocky build he took little damage at first.

"_Stop fighting, please! I don't want to hurt you!"_

Leopard X suddenly made an entrance, & from afar fired his own 'version' of the uni-beam straight on. Iron Man flew backward before tumbling over clumsily. Reed appeared too, wrapping around his armour & passing a message, "Iron Man, listen to me - we need to access your mainframe."

"_Will you just get outta here? I'll handle this!"_

Ozai was ticked off indeed. Trying to renew the armoured hero's thinking patterns, he farther secured Reed's grip around Iron Man's body with a 'tail wrap' move. "I risk major damage to my own suit, but you HAVE TO LISTEN! Just let us help you, & you won't be hurting too many people today!" he said aloud.

There was no response. Doom remotely turned on Iron Man's rocket boots, & it wasn't looking good for Leopard X. The three (Iron Man, Reed & Ozai) shot up high into the air - & Leopard X's tail appeared to be locked in place. Only when they were hundreds of metres above ground did Ozai let go at last. The cutting wind drowned out his urgent roaring & shouting to alert the others.

Reed's cogs were practically overworking, his mind struggling to glue everything together. His voice lost its usual sedateness, "Susan, I need you up here. Ben, Johnny & Azula, distract Victor while I work." He had forgotten _one_ thing, but the rest failed to remind him.

"Being part of a team does have its advantages, Tony. If we work together, we can stop Doom," he said to Iron Man after dodging his repulsor blasts.

"_What? How did you -"_

"Of course you're Iron Man. Who else could it be? Now, can you access your armour's mainframe remotely or not?"

"Yes. But you need a hundred supercomputers just to get through the encryptions," Tony barked.

Reed proceeded, "Not a problem. H.E.R.B.I.E., I need you to access the Stark mainframe."

Meanwhile, there was a heated battle on the balcony.

"We missed you!" Johnny teased whilst launching his fireballs. Ben added, "We miss clobberin' you, that is."

"Do you really think the three of you have a chance against my terrible power?" said Doom in spite of being rammed into the brickwork by Ben.

"Oh, your terrible power!" said Ben in hilarious pretense.

Azula had her say, "If it's that terrible, why are we three still standing?"

"Good point!" chirped Johnny, who unleashed some 'spear fist fireball' attacks formerly taught by Azula.

H.E.R.B.I.E. was getting down to work, "Accessing Iron Man mainframe." Second by second elapsed, before his confidence waned, "Systems overloading! Encryption is too much!" "H.E.R.B.I.E….," Reed whispered, fearing the worst. Out of the blue, Iron Man performed a powerful attack to free himself of Reed's elastic hold. The blow had hit Reed in the head, making him dizzy. Sue caught him in her hovering bubble just in time.

"_Access…granted…," _the computer's voice faded to silence. H.E.R.B.I.E.'s **steadfastness had its full effect - the process was perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.** This was one of his toughest tasks in a long time, & it wasn't a small feat.

Iron Man stopped short in the air, examining his movements. "I can't believe it," said Tony, regaining control of the suit.

Ben yelled from below, "Hey, if you guys ain't busy! We could use a hand down here!" Sue had an imperative enquiry, "Wait, where's Ozai?"

Tony was hazily recollecting himself in the process of helping to find an answer. Then, using his built-in radar, his means of locating objects, he looked below as hard as he could, "There he is! He's down."

"_No..."_ Reed said in a tone rather broken, a clear expression of guilt. In such a short span of time, he was experiencing some dreadful bitterness of spirit. The one thing he'd left out: Leopard X falling from a height so dangerous, & in need of help.


	5. Strengthened Relations

"You okay, buddy?" A shiny hand reached for Leopard X's paw.

Ozai, half-conscious, gawked at the reddish blur above him, "Iron Man?"

"Tony, actually."

Ozai was at least in a single piece still. But there were odd crunching noises as he sat up: his machinery wouldn't function at its best efficiency. "I'll do with the aches & pains to come, but -"

"Let's get you up."

"I need to talk to you."

"I know. But that'll come later."

Later in the air, Reed exclaimed, "Ozai! I can't tell you how sorry I am!" Iron Man did the talking, "It's all good, Reed. He's a little groggy, but he didn't break anything." Sue extended her platform for Leopard X to rest on; he looked like he was dwelling emphatically on something, but didn't speak.

Tony prepared to charge into the battlefield again, except Reed halted him, "Iron Man, wait. With your technology merged with his, Doom may be too powerful. We need a plan."

"Any suggestions?"

Johnny was dizzy from flying countless times around Doom, & fell hard onto, of all persons, Azula. "AAHHHHH!" he tumbled down. She was too cross, "Don't you _ever_ hear me? No falling!" He'd crash-landed on her not less than thrice in past missions. "Look out!" she gave an abrupt yelp. The couple moved aside before Ben was smashed into the bricks by Doom.

Reed landed near them all & jabbed a finger at Victor, "Get away from him!"

Doom cackled, "Such bravado, Richards!" He revved up his own uni-beam to fire. In a violent hurry Tony stepped in to block off the attack.

"I offered you a chance for survival!" Victor wrestled with Iron Man.

Tony clamped both hands over his opponent's armour, & "Sorry Doom. But I'm a little more ambitious than that!"

Victor displayed the defects of his temper,_ "None may touch Doom!" _Lastly, he blasted Tony far back, though Ben could stop him from sliding off the building's edge. "Don't blame me; it was Reed's idea," said Iron Man.

Reed grinned at him, "Overloading Doom's armour may've been my idea, but you definitely did it. I take no responsibility."

Raging sparks flew out of Doom's outermost armour.

"Your armour is going to self-destruct, Victor. You may want to take it off."

But he couldn't. One bright flash of energy & then odious old Doom was defeated. To his horror, the mask protecting his head was fragmented, the pieces loose. Right hand covering his face, in his perturbed state of mind, he growled, "You've made yourself a deadly enemy today, Iron Man." His thoughts could rest on nothing, apart from retreating to the lair. His back faced those behind him & that proved him capable of some fearful feeling. "We shall meet again."

Unfortunately, even if the heroes had left him mangled, his diplomatic immunity spared him any form of arrest. They could do no more than watch him reenter his abode through the front doors. The chief object of any foe of Doom's would be to disable the immunity he possessed.

"But I don't want a deadly enemy," whined Tony. Ben muttered, "You get used to it." Anyway, Victor von Doom was quite possibly the worst of the worst.

* * *

"Thank you, guys. & I'm sorry. I should've accepted your offer to help in the first place," Iron Man told the group, atop the Baxter Building.

"Let's call it even," Reed began, "After all, there are so few of us." Tony's smile broke across the face, "What? Rich, handsome geniuses?"

Azula interjected, "If you include Doom, there'd be too many of those around here."

"I actually meant superheroes, but that works too," concluded Reed.

"Well, thanks again," Iron Man trotted over to Leopard X, "Ozai, I'll pay for the damage. All of it; for your shoulder guards & suit." It'd all be done once the leopard armour was patched up & working optimally again.

"Many thanks, Tony," Ozai extended a paw. It met the red armoured hand nearest to it.

"Hopefully one day I can _fully_ return the favour," came Iron Man's final words before he took off.

* * *

"We gotta run! Now!"

"What? They're just folks with cameras!"

"We should be running. Leaving. Avoiding them!"

It was them again, or as Johnny once put it, 'adoring paparazzi'. But he simply awaited their arrival to bask in his Human Torch glory. Azula kept the space between herself & all that walking equipment, for she preferred that her connections with any of the reporters be dissolved at least for today.

"Hey, hey! How's it going, guys?" Johnny greeted the 'vultures'.

"Mr . Storm, is it true that you're dating the Blue Dragon?"

He put an his best expression, "Well, what does it look like? We've known each other for quite some time, &…," he pulled Azula over to slide a hand over her shoulder, "have decided that we're taking it to a new level."

"Next question: what do you think of her as a person?"

"Hmmm, lemme find the right stuff to say…uhmmm…," he was mumbling before he spoke properly, "Azula a.k.a. 'Zed' is the hottest, toughest, awesomest girl in town. Besides my sister. She's a real good fighter. One of a kind, &…that's about it." He flashed as many teeth as possible at the cam.

"Is she the ideal date for somebody like you?"

"Duhhhhh! Our powers match!" He gazed to her, but found her throwing him '_the glare_'. He stepped it down a notch, "Sorta…& would it be wrong to say, '_we complete each other_'? Coz that's what I honestly think."

That was enough to ward them off.

He looked at the late evening sky, painted crimson & vermillion, & shooed them away, "Okay people, spread out! If you got all your questions answered, you can go home now. Bye!"

* * *

"Johnny, tell me if you meant what you said at that very last part," she looked down the street, not ready to hold whatever gaze he might give back.

"Huh?" he slowed his pace.

"We - _'complete each other_'? Sounds too much like weirdo philosophy to be true."

"Did I say that? Maybe I forgot -"

"You sounded honest, though." She decided she stop to finally speak her mind, "& that's what I like about you." Maybe **whoever can be trusted with very little - could also be trusted with **_**much**_**. **At that moment, in no one's countenance was attentive curiosity so strongly marked as in his. He could scarcely determine what she was to do next.

"You're the funniest, sweetest friend I've ever made." Her words rang with sweet seriousness. This was the gift of not feeling alone & hollowed. Her eyes captured almost all the light there was to offer. Just then, she clung to him, head resting on the right of his chest. He, however, probably heard his own heartbeat more than she could, though. Her thoughts flashed to the Skrull battle where he had helped her onto her feet, & she accidentally felt what warmth there was in leaning on him.

They both relished the quiet of this part of New York; it was pretty scenic - rewarding its visitors with a view of Brooklyn Bridge, with nature's music in the form of a lovely breeze. His face was very dreamy following the feeling of utter shock at what she was doing, before he shut his eyes to rub a cheek against her smooth hair.


End file.
